Munchkin did not copy Shnuggle baby bath designs, court rules

Baby bath maker Shnuggle has been handed a defeat by the English High Court, which dismissed a design infringement suit against rival company Munchkin.

In the judgment, issued Wednesday, November 20, judge Melissa Clarke of the court’s Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court division ruled that he had “no doubt” that Munchkin had not copied Shnuggle’s baby bath design exactly or substantially.

Northern Ireland-based Shnuggle said that Munchkin’s ‘Sit and Soak’ was copied from its own baby bath designs.

Shnuggle cited two registered Community designs (RCD-196 and RCD-763) as well as unregistered design copyright for the baths.

The Northern Ireland company’s products are among the most popular baby baths sold in the UK.

Munchkin responded that the Sit and Soak was based on “commonplace designs” which were not protectable, and that the Community rights were therefore invalid.

Clarke ruled that while the RCD-196 was valid and covered an original design, the overall visual impression of the Sit and Soak was different.

In particular, the “unusual teardrop shape” of the Sit and Soak distinguished it from the RCD-196 design, Clarke found.

The RCD-196 design covered an early version of a Shnuggle baby bath which was then updated to the RCD-763 design, which covers some of its most commercially successful products.

The judge invalidated the RCD-763 design entirely, finding that it lacked individual character that distinguished it from most baby baths.

Unregistered claims

Shnuggle also failed on its unregistered copyright claims, after the court found that the similarity between the products did not pass the threshold for copying.

To find infringement of an unregistered design, Munchkin would have to have copied the “whole design exactly or substantially,” Clarke said.

“In this case I have no doubt that Munchkin has not copied the whole Shnuggle design exactly or substantially,” she said.

Max Thoma, associate at  Mathys & Squire, said the case provided clarity on the status of unregistered design rights in the UK since the introduction of the Intellectual Property Act 2014.

“Despite Shnuggle showing that part of their design had been copied, they failed at the final hurdle to show unregistered design infringement as the judge ruled that not all of the part had been copied,” Thoma said.

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